Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Beacon by Angela Brown - Virtual book tour and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Angela will be awarding a $75 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Pretend your protagonist is at school and opens his/her locker – what will we see inside?
Students in New Festus, or any school in The Colony for that matter, don’t have to worry about lockers. All books, text or otherwise, are digital. So a student will have their personal holo-rod as well as a holo-pad for doing assignments and turning them in.

What would you write in a letter to your teen self?
Dear Teen Me,
You are one stubborn girl. But don’t let that stick-to-it-tive-ness go. You’re going to need it when your mother passes on and you make some crazy decisions feeling that your world is over. You’ll have to learn that starting over isn’t bad, new beginnings are good for the soul and for those story ideas you have bouncing around in your head, and that yes, you are worthy of being a writer.

What candy do you give out at Halloween?
Chocolate! Mini-Snickers, mini-Twix, varieties of mini-Hershey bars, yeah, I love eating and giving chocolate. If you don’t like chocolate, we can still be friends, but if you see me looking at you all cock-eyed, it’s because I’m trying to figure out how it is humanly possible to NOT like chocolate lol!

What book is on your nightstand currently?
I have my kindle set for Gears of Brass, a steampunk anthology with fairy tale re-tellings and more. I’m really excited to get into it.

Hunger Games or Twilight?Why?
Definitely Hunger Games. It was the inspiration for Beacon, my YA urban fantasy dystopian, and the action throughout both the book and movie were awesome.

Favorite TV show from your childhood?
I’m a Cosby Show kid. Loved crushing on Theo and Vanessa tended to be my fave with her antics and experiments, like trying to sew lol!!!

Sum up your book for Twitter: 140 characters or less.
Life's norm slams to a halt when Macie is forced to the capital city of Biss, onto a path of self-discovery & the unraveling of all she knew. (I think the period makes it 141 characters)

Ideal summer vacation.
It would be me and my siblings, along with our respective kiddos, doing a weeklong trip to an all-inclusive resort at some place along the west coast of Mexico. Fun in the sun. Sand in our toes. Pools for swimming. Adventures together and having the space to have comforting time alone getting a much needed massage.

You’re stranded on a desert island—which character from your book do you want with you?
Why?
I would so take Thane. As an unregistered, he knows how to hunt his food, clean his kills, cook meals without the luxury of a gas or electric stove, and can turn the nearest trees and cave into a functioning shelter. I’m still thinking about what I’d add to the situation lol!

Tsunamis reduced the USA into a shell of itself, called The Fold. Surviving humans and vampires joined forces to form The Colony, where registered citizens do as they're told. They donate blood quarterly and dream of being chosen as Attendees for the Jubilee celebrations, that is, everyone except Macie Breen. With high school graduation near, she’s anxious to ditch the rules in hopes of starting a new life with Thane, an unregistered and also her best friend.

Her hopes fizzle when Macie is selected as an Attendee, forever registered. Any future with Thane…impossible. Being chosen comes with another unexpected price.

Truths about The Colony blaze into ashes and lies when she discovers the vampires haven't kept their part of the bargain. Worst still, Macie’s life unravels as her stint in the city of Bliss forces her to face daunting truths about who, and what, she really is.

Enjoy an excerpt

"We’re not kids anymore, Macie. You’ve learned what little The Colony had to say about the vampeer, wights and devil spawn. There’s something else they’ve hidden from you. From all registered citizens. I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time why we met. Just how special you really are. But you won’t want to be my friend anymore once you know the truth. Losing you would be…” Words trickled from my mouth unfiltered. “I, what do you mean I wouldn’t…”
He turned to me, chewing his bottom lip. The last time he did that was the day I broke first blood.We were playing at knight warriors, a favorite of ours since we were kids. I thrust my wooden sword forward. It clattered to the ground as I doubled over from a sharp spasm in my stomach. I tried to shoo Thane away, deal with the pain on my own. But, noticing the grimace on my face – I really tried hard to be quiet, but I cried out anyway – he wouldn’t have it. When he glanced at my yellow cargo pants, he chewed his bottom lip, eyes wide. My gaze trailed down to the bloody mess I’d become. My face couldn’t have flashed hotter if I set it on fire.Now he was doing it again, chewing his bottom lip. What could he possibly have to say? He opened his mouth to speak when the tent flap ripped away. We jerked our heads around to face a tall being covered in shaggy, brown fur from scalp to hoof. A shadowy glow encircled it like a dirty aura. Two arms protruded from both sides. Jagged teeth crowded its mouth. Drool leaked
down its chin. Reptilian eyes shone bright white with a red slit down the middle. One set of eyelids blinked side to side as the second set followed up and down. It snarled, spat and drooled some more. My bladder felt one moment away from losing it.“Frag me,” I whispered as my world collapsed into a nightmare.

About the Author

Born and raised in Little Rock, AR, Angela now calls Central Texas home. She's a lover of Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate/chocolate covered delicious-ness. Steampunk, fantasy and paranormal to contemporary - mostly young adult - fill her growing library of books. Mother to a rambunctious darling girl aptly nicknamed Chipmunk, life stays busy. Her favorite quote keeps her moving: "You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Enjoyed reading this interview and the book seems interesting. Thane sounds like he has a lot of useful skills that would come in handy if the world ended, which I'm guessing benefits the girl in the story. Also I'll take a Twix and Snickers! Lol. Believe it or not, I knew someone who didn't eat chocolate. It's rare but they're out there.